Method for increasing the area of non-polar and semi-polar nitride substrates

ABSTRACT

A method for fabricating a high quality freestanding nonpolar and semipolar nitride substrate with increased surface area, comprising stacking multiple films by growing the films one on top of each other with different and non-orthogonal growth directions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. Section 120 ofcommonly-assigned U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/234,340,filed on Sep. 19, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,080,469 issued Dec. 20,2011, by Asako Hirai, James S. Speck, Steven P. DenBaars, and ShujiNakamura, entitled “METHOD FOR INCREASING THE AREA OF NONPOLAR ANDSEMIPOLAR NITRIDE SUBSTRATES”, which application claims the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) of commonly-assigned U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/973,656, filed on Sep. 19, 2007, by AsakoHirai, James S. Speck, Steven P. DenBaars, and Shuji Nakamura, entitled“METHOD FOR INCREASING THE AREA OF NONPOLAR AND SEMIPOLAR NITRIDESUBSTRATES”, which applications are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a technique for the production of large area,high quality freestanding (FS) nonpolar and semipolar nitridesubstrates.

2. Description of the Related Art

The usefulness of gallium nitride (GaN), and its ternary and quaternarycompounds incorporating aluminum and indium (AlGaN, InGaN, AlInGaN), hasbeen well established for fabrication of visible and ultravioletoptoelectronic devices and high-power electronic devices. Thesecompounds are referred to herein as Group III nitrides, or III-nitrides,or just nitrides, or by (Al,Ga,In)N, or by Al_((1-x-y))In_(y)Ga_(x)Nwhere 0≦x≦1 and 0≦y≦1. These devices are typically grown epitaxiallyusing growth techniques including molecular beam epitaxy (MBE),metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), and hydride vapor phaseepitaxy (HVPE).

GaN and its alloys are most stable in the hexagonal wurtzite crystalstructure, in which the structure is described by two (or three)equivalent basal plane axes that are rotated 120° with respect to eachother (the a-axes), all of which are perpendicular to a unique c-axis.Group III and nitrogen atoms occupy alternating c-planes along thecrystal's c-axis. The symmetry elements included in the wurtzitestructure dictate that III-nitrides possess a bulk spontaneouspolarization along this c-axis, and the wurtzite structure exhibitsinherent piezoelectric polarization.

Current nitride technology for electronic and optoelectronic devicesemploys nitride films grown along the polar c-direction. However,conventional c-plane quantum well structures in III-nitride basedoptoelectronic and electronic devices suffer from the undesirablequantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE), due to the existence of strongpiezoelectric and spontaneous polarizations. The strong built-inelectric fields along the c-direction cause spatial separation ofelectrons and holes that in turn give rise to restricted carrierrecombination efficiency, reduced oscillator strength, and red-shiftedemission.

One approach to eliminating the spontaneous and piezoelectricpolarization effects in GaN optoelectronic devices is to grow thedevices on nonpolar planes of the crystal. Such planes contain equalnumbers of Ga and N atoms and are charge-neutral. Furthermore,subsequent nonpolar layers are equivalent to one another so the bulkcrystal will not be polarized along the growth direction. Two suchfamilies of symmetry-equivalent nonpolar planes in GaN are the {11-20}family, known collectively as a-planes, and the {10-10} family, knowncollectively as m-planes. Unfortunately, in spite of advances made byresearchers in nitride community, heteroepitaxial growth of high qualitynonpolar and semipolar GaN and high performance device fabricationremain challenging and have not yet been widely adopted in theIII-nitride industry. On the other hand, despite the success in highperformance devices homoepitaxially grown on high quality nonpolar andsemipolar freestanding (FS) GaN substrates, the narrow substrate areamakes it challenging to widely adopt into the III-nitride industry.

The other cause of polarization is piezoelectric polarization. Thisoccurs when the material experiences a compressive or tensile strain, ascan occur when (Al, In, Ga, B)N layers of dissimilar composition (andtherefore different lattice constants) are grown in a nitrideheterostructure. For example, a thin AlGaN layer on a GaN template willhave in-plane tensile strain, and a thin InGaN layer on a GaN templatewill have in-plane compressive strain, both due to lattice matching tothe GaN. Therefore, for an InGaN quantum well on GaN, the piezoelectricpolarization will point in the opposite direction than that of thespontaneous polarization of the InGaN and GaN. For an AlGaN layerlattice matched to GaN, the piezoelectric polarization will point in thesame direction as that of the spontaneous polarization of the AlGaN andGaN.

The advantage of using nonpolar or semipolar planes over c-planenitrides is that the total polarization will be zero (nonpolar) orreduced (semipolar). There may even be zero polarization for specificalloy compositions on specific planes, for example, semipolar planes.The present invention satisfies the need for enhanced area nonpolar andsemipolar substrates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and toovercome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading andunderstanding the present specification, the present invention describesa technique for the production of large area and high quality FSnonpolar and semipolar nitride substrates via multiple slicing andgrowth steps. One novel feature comprises geometrically increasing theavailable surface area of nonpolar or semipolar substrates by changingthe growth direction of thick-film growth steps.

The present invention discloses a method for fabricating a nonpolar orsemipolar III-nitride substrate with increased surface area, comprising(a) growing III-nitride on a first plane of a FS III-nitride substrate,wherein the III-nitride is nonpolar or semipolar, the first plane is anonpolar or semipolar plane, and the FS III-nitride substrate has atypical thickness of more than 500 microns, and (b) slicing or polishingthe III-nitride along a second plane to obtain a top surface of theIII-nitride which is the second plane, wherein the III-nitride substratecomprises the III-nitride with the top surface and the second plane is anonpolar plane or semipolar plane. For example, the first plane may be asemipolar plane and the second plane may be a nonpolar plane.

In one embodiment the first plane is a sliced surface of the FS IIInitride substrate, the sliced surface is at a first angle with respectto a c-plane and determines a growth direction of the III-nitride, and awidth of the sliced surface is a thickness of the first substratedivided by a sine of the first angle. For example, the FS III-nitridesubstrate is sliced at the first angle from the FS III-nitride, whereinthe FS III-nitride has a c-orientation and the c-plane is a surface ofthe FS III-nitride.

In another embodiment, the slicing or polishing of the III-nitride is ata second angle with respect to the first plane. In this case, a sum ofthe first angle and the second angle determines a crystallographicorientation of the top surface of the III-nitride substrate. Forexample, the sum may be 90 degrees in order to achieve m-planeorientations.

In yet another embodiment, the III-nitride and the FS III-nitridesubstrate is sliced or polished along the second plane, to obtain theIII-nitride substrate including the III-nitride stacked on the FSIII-nitride substrate and the top surface which includes the III-nitrideand the FS III-nitride substrate.

A thickness of the III-nitride may be thicker than a thickness of acommercially available III-nitride substrate.

Typically, the second plane should be substantially non orthogonal tothe first plane of the FS III-nitride substrate in order to enlarge asurface area of the second plane as compared to a surface area of thefirst plane. More specifically, if the second plane is selected to be anonpolar plane, the growth direction should be non-orthogonal to thec-plane in order to enlarge a surface area of the second plane ascompared to a surface area of a nonpolar plane which is orthogonal tothe c-plane. Calculations show the second plane may be at least2h_(MAX2) times larger than the surface area of the nonpolar plane whichis orthogonal to the c-plane, where h_(MAX2) is a thickness of theIII-nitride. The present invention further discloses a device fabricatedusing the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers representcorresponding parts throughout:

FIGS. 1( a), 1(b), 1(c), 1(d), 1(e), 1(f) and 1(g) are schematicsillustrating an example of the two-step process flow starting fromc-plane GaN (GaN-1), using semipolar GaN (GaN-2,2′), and resulting in anonpolar FS substrate (GaN-3), wherein a numerical calculation tooptimize the angle θ₁, θ₂ is illustrated by FIGS. 3( a)-(c).

FIGS. 2( a), 2(b), 2(c), 2(d), 2(e), 2(f) and 2(g) are schematicsillustrating another example of the two-step process flow starting fromc-plane GaN (GaN-1), using semipolar GaN (GaN-2,2′), and resulting in anonpolar FS-substrate (GaN-3), wherein a numerical calculation tooptimize the angle θ₁, θ₂ is illustrated by FIG. 3( d).

FIG. 3( a) plots the calculated angles θ (in degrees) of semipolarplanes {10-1n} with respect to the basal plane, as a function of n,wherein θ=61.9434°, 43.1715°, 32.0226°, 25.1295°, and 20.5686° for n=1,2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, FIG. 3( b) plots h_(2h) and h_(2w) in unitsof millimeters (mm) for Example 1 and as a function of n, FIG. 3( c)plots h₂ in mm wherein h₂=h_(2H) if h_(2H)≦h_(2W) and h₂=h_(2W) ifh_(2H)>h_(2W) and as a function of n, and FIG. 3( d) plots the samplewidth h₂ in units of mm for Example 2, as a function of n, whereinh₂=7.35172 mm, 8.64655 mm, 9.2392 mm, and 9.52675 mm for n=1, 2, 3, and4 respectively.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description of the preferred embodiment, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichis shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which theinvention may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

Overview

Conventionally, nitride films are grown on 2-inch diameter substratestoward the c-direction. As bulk crystals of GaN are not yet available,it is not possible to simply cut a crystal to present an arbitrarilylarge surface for subsequent device regrowth. Currently, commerciallyavailable FS GaN substrates are pieces sliced from the thick films grownby HVPE towards the c-direction. The slice angle differs depending onthe arbitrarily chosen crystal planes, i.e., horizontally (c-plane),vertically (nonpolar plane), or at an angle (semipolar plane) to thesubstrate surface, in the case of a c-plane GaN thick-film. Therefore,the substrate areas of FS nonpolar or semipolar GaN substrates arelimited by the c-direction thickness of the grown crystal.

Growth of nonpolar and semipolar nitride semiconductors, for example,{10-10} and {11-20} (nonpolar m- and a-plane, respectively), and{10-11}, {10-13}, and {11-22} (semipolar) planes of GaN, offer a meansof reducing polarization effects in würtzite-structure III-nitridedevice structures. Current nitride devices are grown in the polar [0001]c-direction, which results in a charge separation in quantum wells alongthe [0001] c-direction. The resulting polarization fields aredetrimental to the performance of current state of the artoptoelectronic devices. Growth of these devices along a nonpolar orsemipolar direction could improve device performance significantly byreducing built-in electric fields along the conduction direction.

Until now, no means existed for preparing large area and high quality FSGaN substrates of nonpolar and semipolar nitrides suitable for use assubstrates in device growth. The novel feature of the present inventionis the new geometrical measure, with multiple growth steps, to increasethe area of nonpolar and semipolar FS nitride substrates sliced out fromthe boule. The term “boule” term refers to the bulk crystal grown in acrystal direction other than the final crystal plane whose area has beenenlarged using the present invention. For example, the present inventiondescribes expanding the FS {10-10}, {11-20}, {10-11}, {10-13}, and{11-22} planes of a GaN substrate. However, the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to solely these examples. The present inventionis relevant to all nitride nonpolar and semipolar planes.

Technical Description

The present invention combines various growth directions (crystalplanes) of thick GaN growth, and subsequent slicing angles, togeometrically enlarge the surface area of a FS GaN substrate. It isquite uncommon in semiconductor growth to utilize multiple growth stepswith different growth directions that are not orthogonal to the priorsubstrate surface, to enlarge the surface area of the final crystalplane.

The present invention calculates the estimated area enhancement for theexamples shown in FIGS. 1( a)-(g) and FIGS. 2( a)-(g). Both cases dealwith a two-step growth/slicing process, starting from defect reducedc-plane GaN growth (GaN-1) 100 on foreign substrates 102 to enlarge thefinal size of FS nonpolar GaN (GaN-3) 104, via semipolar GaN growth(GaN-2,2′) 106, 108.

FIGS. 1( a)-(g) and FIGS. 2( a)-(g) illustrate a method for fabricatinga nonpolar or semipolar III-nitride substrate 104 with increased surfacearea, comprising (a) growing III-nitride 108 on a first plane 110 of afreestanding (FS) III-nitride substrate 106, wherein the III-nitride 108is nonpolar or semipolar, the first plane 110 is a nonpolar or semipolarplane, and the FS III-nitride substrate 106 typically has a thicknessh_(S) of more than 500 microns (although other thicknesses h_(S) arepossible), and (b) slicing or polishing the III-nitride 108 along asecond plane 112 to obtain a top surface of the III-nitride 108 which isthe second plane 112, wherein the III-nitride substrate 104 comprisesthe III-nitride 108 with the top surface and the second plane 112 is anonpolar plane or semipolar plane.

In one embodiment, the nonpolar or semipolar plane 110 is a slicedsurface 114 of the FS III-nitride substrate 106, the sliced surface 114is at a first angle θ₁ with respect one or more c-planes 116 a, 116 band determines a growth direction 118 (i.e. semipolar direction,m-direction, or a-direction, for example) of the nonpolar or semipolarIII-nitride 108, and a width h₁ of the sliced surface 114 is a thicknessh_(MAX1) of the FS III-nitride substrate 106 divided by a sine of thefirst angle θ₁. The FS III-nitride substrate 106 might be sliced at thefirst angle θ₁ out of FS III-nitride 100, wherein the FS III-nitride 100has a c-orientation and the c-plane 116 a, 116 b is a surface 120 a, 120b of the FS III-nitride 100.

In another embodiment, the slicing or polishing of the nonpolar orsemipolar III-nitride 108 is at a second angle θ₂ with respect to thenonpolar or semipolar plane 110 of the FS III-nitride 106.

In yet another embodiment, the III-nitride 108 and the FS III-nitridesubstrate 106 are sliced along the second plane 112, to obtain theIII-nitride substrate 104 including the III-nitride 108 stacked on theFS III-nitride substrate 106 and the top surface which includes theIII-nitride 108 and the FS III-nitride substrate 106.

Typically, the second plane 112 should be substantially non orthogonalto the first plane 110 of the FS III-nitride substrate 106 in order toenlarge a surface area of the second plane 112 as compared to a surfacearea of the first plane 110. More specifically, if the second plane 112is selected to be a nonpolar plane, the growth direction 118 issubstantially non-orthogonal to the c-plane 116 b, 116 a in order toenlarge a surface area of the second plane 112 as compared to a surfacearea of a nonpolar plane 122 which is orthogonal to the c-plane 116 b,116 a. In fact, in the latter case, calculations show the second plane112 can have a surface area 2h_(MAX2) times larger than the surface areaof the nonpolar plane 122 which is orthogonal to the c-plane 116 a, 116b (where h_(MAX2) is a thickness of the semipolar III-nitride 108).

Example 1

FIGS. 1( a)-(g) illustrate the process steps according to a preferredembodiment of the present invention. These process steps comprise thefollowing:

1. Thick c-plane GaN growth (GaN-1) 100, to a thickness of h_(MAX1), ona substrate 102, as shown in FIG. 1( a), wherein Φ is the 2 inchdiameter of the GaN-1 wafer 100.

2. Substrate 102 removal, leaving a thickness h_(MAX1) of c-plane GaN-1100, as shown in FIG. 1( b).

3. Slicing a film 124 out of the c-plane GaN-1 100 along a semipolarplane 110 and at an angle θ₁, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), to form a slicedsemipolar substrate GaN-2 106 having a surface 114 which is a semipolarplane 110 of width h₁=h_(MAX1)/sin θ₁, as shown by FIG. 1( d) which isthe top view of the sliced semipolar substrate GaN-2 106.

4. Growing a thickness h_(MAX2) of semipolar GaN on the surface 114 ofGaN-2 106 to form a semipolar growth GaN-2′ 108 (i.e. growth in asemipolar direction 118 to achieve top surface 126 a and bottom surface126 b of the GaN 108, wherein surfaces 126 a, 126 b are semipolar planesparallel to semipolar plane 110), as shown in FIG. 1( e).

5. Slicing the semipolar GaN growth GaN-2′ 108 along a nonpolar plane112 at an angle θ₂, as shown in FIG. 1( f), resulting in a slicedsubstrate GaN-3 104, as shown in FIG. 1( g), which is the top view ofthe sliced substrate GaN-3 104. The sliced substrate GaN-3 104 has a topsurface 128 which is a nonpolar plane 112 having a width h₂=h_(MAX2)/sinθ₂.

FIGS. 1( a)-(g) describe the case when the thickness h_(S) of semipolarFS substrate 106 shown in FIG. 1( c) is in a normal thickness range ofcommercially available substrates, typically 250-400 μm. In this case,the area enlargement is expected to be roughly two-times as large ash_(MAX2). For example, the area of surface 128, which is a nonpolarplane 112, is 2h_(MAX2) times larger than the area of nonpolar plane122, wherein nonpolar plane 122 is a surface 130 which has not beenprepared by slicing GaN-1 100 at an angle θ₁, growing on surface 114 ofGaN-2 106, and slicing GaN-2 108 at angle θ₂.

The numerical calculation revealed that the maximum width h₂ of FSnonpolar GaN 104 in this case is about 8 mm when h_(MAX1)=h_(MAX2)=5 mm,and the first slicing angle θ₁ is chosen as a {10-11} semipolar plane112 with slight miscut toward the <0001> c-direction (i.e. n˜2), whereinn is a miller index of the semipolar plane denoted by {10-1n}.

Example 2

FIGS. 2( a)-(g) also illustrate the process steps according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention. These process stepscomprise the following:

1. Thick c-plane GaN growth (GaN-1) 100, to a thickness of h_(MAX1), ona substrate 102, as shown in FIG. 2( a).

2. Substrate 102 removal, leaving a thickness h_(MAX1) of c-plane GaN-1100, as shown in FIG. 2( b).

3. Slicing a film 124 out of the c-plane GaN-1 100 along a semipolarplane 110 at an angle θ₁, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), to form a slicedsemipolar substrate GaN-2 106 having a surface 114 that is a semipolarplane 110 of width h₁=h_(MAX1)/sin θ₁, as shown in FIG. 2( d), which isa top view of the sliced semipolar substrate GaN-2 106. The slicedsemipolar substrate GaN-2 106 has a height h_(S).

4. Growing a thickness h_(MAX2) of semipolar GaN on the surface 114(which is a semipolar plane 110) of GaN-2 106 to form a semipolar growthGaN-2′ 108 (growth along a semipolar direction 118 to achieve topsurface 126 a which is a semipolar plane parallel to semipolar plane110), as shown in FIG. 2( e).

5. Slicing the semipolar GaN growth GaN-2′ 108 and GaN-2 106 along anonpolar plane 112 at an angle θ₂, as shown in FIG. 2( f), resulting ina sliced substrate GaN-3 104, as shown in FIG. 2( g), which is a topview of the sliced substrate GaN-3 104. The sliced substrate GaN-3 104has a surface 128 that is a nonpolar plane 112 having a width:h ₂=(h _(MAX2) +h _(S))/sin θ₂

FIG. 2( a)-(g) describes the case when the thickness h_(S) of semipolarFS substrate 106 in FIG. 2( c) is larger than the thickness h_(S) of thesemipolar FS substrate 106 illustrated in FIG. 1( c) above, so that thefinal size (i.e. area of surface 128) of nonpolar GaN 104 in FIG. 2( g)is larger than the area of surface 128 illustrated in FIG. 1( g). Thenumerical calculation in Example 2 (see below) revealed that the maximumwidth h₂ of FS nonpolar GaN 104 in the FIG. 2( a)-(g) case is about 9 mmwhen h_(max1)=h_(max2)=5 mm, which is wide enough for commercial devicefabrication. Also shown in FIG. 2( g) is the homoepitaxial interface 130between GaN 106 and GaN 108.

The most convenient growth method for the present invention would beHVPE, which is proven to produce a crystal with a low threadingdislocation (TD) density (˜10⁶ cm⁻²) without stacking faults when thegrowth direction is towards the c-direction, due to the annihilation ofTDs during mm-thick growth.

The present invention is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 1(a)-(g) and FIG. 2( a)-(g). Additional growth steps involving othersemipolar planes would further enlarge the size of final crystal plane112. If the growth 108, 106 is nonpolar, along a nonpolar direction 118,then surfaces 114, 126 a, 126 b are nonpolar. The sapphire substrate 102may be removed prior to the slicing step of FIG. 2( c), but FS-GaNsubstrate 106 is not removed prior to the slicing step of FIG. 2( f).

Numerical Calculations for Optimizing θ₁ and θ₂

FIG. 3( a) plots the calculated angles θ of semipolar planes {10-1n}, asa function of n, wherein the slicing angle θ₁ is chosen to be the θ forthe selected semipolar plane 110, θ is an angle with respect to thebasal plane which is a c-plane 116 b of the GaN-1 100 (a basal plane isthe plane which is perpendicular to the principal axis (c-axis) in atetragonal or hexagonal structure) and

${\theta = {{Arc}\;{{Tan}\left\lbrack \frac{c_{o}/n}{{\sqrt{3}/2}\; a_{o}} \right\rbrack}}},{a_{o} = 3.191},{{{and}\mspace{14mu} c_{o}} = {5.185.}}$

FIG. 3( b) plots h_(2h) and h_(2w) for Example 1, as a function of n,using h_(2H)=h_(MAX2)/sin θ₂ or h_(2W)=h₁/cos θ₂, θ₁=θ, h₁=h_(MAX1)/sinθ₁, and θ₂=90°−θ₁. FIG. 3( c) plots h₂ wherein h₂=h_(2H) ifh_(2H)≦h_(2W) and h₂=h_(2W) if h_(2H)>h_(2W).

FIG. 3( d) plots the sample width h₂ mm for Example 2, whereinh_(SMAX)=h_(MAX1) cos θ−h_(MAX1) sin² θ andh₂=(h_(SMAX)+h_(MAX2))/sin(90−θ).

Process Steps

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the method of the present invention.For the area enlargement of FS GaN, a thick film of on-axis c-plane(0001) GaN 100 is first grown on a substrate 102, as shown in Block 132.A FS on-axis or miscut semipolar GaN substrate 106 is sliced out fromthe thick c-GaN film 100 at an angle θ₁, as shown in Block 134, thenpolished for the semipolar plane growth, as shown in Block 136.Secondly, a thick film of semipolar GaN 108 is grown on the FS semipolarGaN substrate 106 described above, as shown in Block 138. A FS on-axisor miscut nonpolar GaN substrate 104 is sliced out from the thicksemipolar GaN film 108 (or 108 and 106) at an angle θ₂ (to producem-plane at this step, θ₁+θ₂=90° should be satisfied), as shown in Block140, then polished to yield an epi-ready surface 128, as shown in Block142. Block 144 illustrates the end result of the method, which is anonpolar III-nitride substrate 104 with an enlarged surface area 128.Although c-plane GaN 100 has been chosen as a starting film here, othercrystal planes 116 a for the starting film 100 are also possible. Insuch cases, the number of process repeats of the growth/slice/polishsequence, and the angles (e.g. θ₁, θ₂) of slice steps must be changedaccordingly, depending on the desired crystallographic orientation 146of the surface 128. For example, Block 138 might involve growth of anonpolar GaN and Block 140 might involve slicing out a semipolarsubstrate, with θ₁, θ₂ chosen accordingly. Therefore, a sum of the firstangle θ₁ and the second angle θ₂ may determine a crystallographicorientation 146 of the top surface 128. The III-nitride 104, havingthickness 148, may be sliced out of the III-nitride 106, 108 to becomean FS substrate.

Possible Modifications and Variations

The scope of this invention covers more than just the particularexamples listed above. This present invention is pertinent to allnitrides. For example, the present invention could enlarge the area ofAlN, InN, AlGaN, InGaN, or AlInN FS substrates with reduced defectdensities. These examples and other possibilities still incur all of thebenefits of the present invention.

The process steps described above are only a description of one set ofconditions that are expected to be useful for one way of applying thepresent invention to the geometrical area enlargement of FS GaN. Thereare other possible slice angles that could effectively enlarge the finalnon c-plane area 128. It is also possible to achieve the areaenlargement of the final crystal plane 128 using multiple growth stepson multiple crystal planes, all of which will generate a large area anddefect reduced FS nonpolar or semipolar GaN substrate 104. Nonpolar orsemipolar device layers, such as n-type layers, p-type layers, laser,light emitting diode or transistor active layers, may be grown on thesurface 128 of substrate 104, for example.

A thickness h_(MAX2) of the nonpolar or semipolar III-nitride 108 may bethicker than a thickness of a commercially available III-nitridesubstrate.

CONCLUSION

This concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The foregoing description of one or more embodimentsof the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intendedthat the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for fabricating a nonpolar III-nitridesubstrate with increased surface area, comprising: (a) growingIII-nitride in a semipolar direction on a semipolar surface of afreestanding (FS) III-nitride substrate; and (b) processing theIII-nitride to obtain a top surface of the III-nitride that is anonpolar surface suitable for subsequent growth of the III-nitride in anonpolar direction, wherein the processed III-nitride is a nonpolarIII-nitride substrate.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processingstep comprises slicing or polishing the III-nitride along a nonpolarplane to obtain the top surface of the III-nitride that is the nonpolarsurface.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing step resultsin a nonpolar III-nitride substrate including the III-nitride stacked onthe FS III-nitride substrate.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: (1) thesemipolar surface is a surface of the FS III-nitride substrate, (2) thesemipolar surface is at a first angle with respect to a c-plane anddetermines a growth direction of the III-nitride, and (3) a width of thesemipolar surface is a thickness of the FS III-nitride substrate dividedby a sine of the first angle.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the FSIII-nitride substrate is sliced or polished at the first angle out of FSIII-nitride, the FS III-nitride has a c-orientation and the c-plane is asurface of the FS III-nitride.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein thenonpolar plane is at a second angle with respect to the semipolar plane.7. The method of claim 6, wherein a sum of the first angle and thesecond angle is selected to determine a crystallographic orientation ofthe top surface of the III-nitride.
 8. The method of claim 7, whereinthe sum is 90 degrees.
 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the nonpolarsurface is a nonpolar plane and the growth direction is non-orthogonalto the c-plane in order to enlarge a surface area of the nonpolarsurface as compared to a surface area of a nonpolar surface that isorthogonal to the c-plane.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein thenonpolar surface is 2h_(MAX2) times larger than the surface area of thenonpolar surface that is orthogonal to the c-plane, and h_(MAX2) is athickness of the III-nitride.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein thenonpolar surface is non-orthogonal to the semipolar surface, in order toenlarge the surface area of the nonpolar surface as compared to thesurface area of the semipolar surface.
 12. A device fabricated using themethod of claim
 1. 13. A nonpolar III-nitride substrate with increasedsurface area fabricated using the method of claim 1, wherein thenonpolar III-nitride substrate has a thickness of more than 500 microns.